How to view photos without using iPhoto?

Does anyone know of a good way to view a bunch of photos without putting them into iPhoto? I know I can view them in the preview, but (and I hate to say this) I really like the photo viewing utility in WIN XP, how you can just double click a pic, then hit the arrow keys to scroll through all the pics in that folder!

Staff Member

Does anyone know of a good way to view a bunch of photos without putting them into iPhoto? I know I can view them in the preview, but (and I hate to say this) I really like the photo viewing utility in WIN XP, how you can just double click a pic, then hit the arrow keys to scroll through all the pics in that folder!

Hi. Just select all the pics at once and open them simultaneously. Then you'll be able to use the up and down arrows to "scroll" through them all. Simple and easy I think. (I won't hold it against you that you miss that windows thing, but this should help you out )

I'm not 100% sure what you're after (never seen the XP thing you're talking about), but...

You can select multiple images and load them all into Preview (Ctrl-Click and Open with Preview) and then step through them in preview.

Or, you can select multiple images in Finder, then Ctrl-Click and select Slideshow. If you move the mouse during the slideshow you'll get a control panel which will let you pause, step forward and back, etc.

Edit: wow! 3 replies in the time it took me to select my threads to read and then type the above. Oh well, what the others said re: Preview.

Apple really needs to simplify this process methinks. The slideshow function was a step in the right direction but it still needs work. You should just be able to click on a single pic then be able to click to other pictures within the same folder. Why hasn't Apple implemented this simple, and seemingly obvious, functionality?

I remember researching this same issue the other day, and all I came across were posts like these, suggesting that the OP highlight all the photos in a directory and view them in preview.

This might already be out there all over the place, but I thought it would be helpful for newbies like me. Once in a folder, just highlight a single picture, and click the eye button (quick look / slideshow). You can then use the arrow keys to scroll through all the pictures in the folder.

I remember researching this same issue the other day, and all I came across were posts like these, suggesting that the OP highlight all the photos in a directory and view them in preview.

This might already be out there all over the place, but I thought it would be helpful for newbies like me. Once in a folder, just highlight a single picture, and click the eye button (quick look / slideshow). You can then use the arrow keys to scroll through all the pictures in the folder.

I'm afraid that liquidsense's contribution is actually a bit irrelevant: quick view is a Leopard feature, and the thread was started in 2006, long before Leopard was released. Hence, toneloco2881's complaint was actually entirely valid, and Apple addressed it in the next release of the OS (a year and a half later...). Of course, it is also true that this "simple, and seemingly obvious, functionality" was present in WinXP in 2001, so it does seem like Apple could have done the same in a bit less than the 6 years that they took...

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